TENNIS / WOMEN AT MANHATTAN BEACH : Gavaldon Discards Superstitions, Keeps Clothes

Four years ago, Angelica Gavaldon was a 16-year-old tennis player from Our Lady of Peace Academy in San Diego full of superstitions and promise.

She reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the third round of Wimbledon in 1990, and became the talk of the women’s tour because of her odd habits.

In Australia, she would eat dinner at the same restaurant and same table each night, and order a chocolate chip cookie for dessert. She would braid her hair in the bathroom each night.

Then there was the time she took the same seat in the car that brought her to a tournament in Tampa. And at Wimbledon, she would kneel in the bathtub once at night and once in the morning before her matches.

But she did not stop there. Gavaldon started eating a baked potato and sweet corn before her matches. Then she started showering in the same stall in the locker room after she played.

And if she lost, she threw away her tennis clothes.

She started throwing away a lot of outfits once she became a tour regular. In her first full year, Gavaldon’s best 1993 Grand Slam event finish was at the French Open, in which she lost in the second round.

Now 20, Gavaldon has decided to discard her quirky tendencies and worry about what happens on the court.

So far, the best she has done in a Grand Slam event is reach the second round at Roland Garros again, but if Monday’s first-round performance in the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles is any indication, then perhaps Gavaldon’s game is maturing.

Using a strong service return, Gavaldon scored a mild upset over 11th-seeded Natalia Medvedeva of Ukraine, 6-2, 6-2, at the Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach.

Also advancing were ninth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, who defeated Jana Nejedly of Canada, 6-3, 6-4; No. 15 Kimberly Po, who defeated Katrina Adams, 6-3, 6-2; Maria Jose Gaidano of Argentina, who upset No. 14 Marketa Kochta, 7-5, 6-2, and Lisa Raymond, who ousted Rita Grande of Italy, 6-2, 6-3.

Gavaldon, who plays Kyoko Nagatsuka in the second round, also looks different on the court this year. In an effort to shed all her superstitions, she quit wearing large hoop earrings and bright red lipstick that were her trademark.

“I think I was overdoing it,” she said. “In a way, it was kind of insecure. I’d have stupid thoughts.”

Gavaldon said Monday’s victory gives her confidence after a dismal season. Her best showing was in last week’s tournament at Carlsbad, where she reached the round of 16 before retiring because of back problems.

She entered this week’s event feeling better, and it showed against Medvedeva. “Her game is comfortable for me,” Gavaldon said.

Particularly when Medvedeva self-destructed in the second set. She looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but on the stadium court when she lost her serve all four times.

After breaking Gavaldon to close within 2-1, Medvedeva lost her serve in the fourth game.

Although breaking Gavaldon twice, Medvedeva was unable to control her groundstrokes. She double-faulted on her second match point.

Tennis Notes

Martina Navratilova, 37, will decide after this week’s tournament whether she will enter the U.S. Open. Ranked fourth in the world, Navratilova is playing in the final season of a 20-year career. She might skip the U.S. Open because she has not spent much time at her home in Aspen, Colo., she said. How would the year’s final Grand Slam event do without her? “I could lose in the first round, so the Open won’t miss me,” she said.